The Textile Research Centre is looking for a student who is interested in helping to catalogue the textiles – there are numerous pieces that are familiar from paintings, court costumes and so forth.

Most of the pieces are about 30 x 30 cm in size, some larger, some smaller. They are mainly woven velvets and silks, with a couple of printed pieces and embroideries. They include French, Italian and Spanish examples well as one printed piece with blocks of Arabic script on it. In addition there were three pieces of very rare Coptic (Egyptian) silk embroideries with figures of what appears to be Christ, some saints, fishes and hares (?). These would appear to date to the sixth/eighth centuries.